Eradication of tsetse fly in Senegalese region by 2016: UN agencies

A bite from a parasite-carrying tsetse fly can cause trypanosomiasis in animals and sleeping sickness in humans. Photo: Geoffrey M. Attardo, Research Scientist, Yale School of Public Health

A campaign to eradicate the tsetse fly in the West African country, Senegal, could produce results within the near future, according to two UN agencies.

Tsetse can carry parasites that cause sleeping sickness in humans and a wasting disease in livestock.

The diseases are transmitted when a fly bites a host. Both can be fatal if left untreated.A pilot programmes by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in the Niayes area near the Senegalese capital Dakar suggests that the fly could be successfully eradicated.

Steve Thachet spoke to IAEA's Head of the Insect Pest Control Laboratory, Marc Vreysen about the project.